1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a spring mounting device for an automotive door lock apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically, the conventional door lock apparatus of an automotive vehicle includes a lock body accommodating a latch for engaging with a striker rigidly secured on a vehicular body and a ratchet for preventing the latch from pivoting in a reverse or releasing direction. The ratchet is normally biased by means of a spring so that the ratchet teeth constantly contact with the outer periphery of the latch.
As the spring for biasing the ratchet, a torsion spring type one (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 4,756,563) wound around a rotational center shaft of the ratchet and a compression coil spring type one (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 4,358,141) disposed between the tip end of the ratchet and the peripheral wall of the body have been available. The present invention is intended to facilitate mounting of the latter compression coil spring.
FIGS. 21 and 22 are explanatory illustrations showing process steps for mounting the compression coil spring A. As can be seen, in the prior art, the compression spring A is set in a receptacle space E defined between the tip end C of the ratchet B and the peripheral wall D of the lock body with compression in a given magnitude. Then, a cover plate F is mounted as shown in FIG. 22 while manually maintaining the spring A within space E so that it should not jump out. However, since the spring disposed within the receptacle space E can easily jumps out unless sufficient attention is paid, the installer must be very careful and use two hands when assembling a lock assembly.